After 20 years, DWP/Inyo tear up desert to make it green

Inyo County and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power signed the Long Term Water Agreement more than 20 years ago. They started talking about a “re-greening” project east of Independence in 1988. DWP recently got around to that project area and one in Big Pine which are supposed to make up for some 655 acres of plant life killed by groundwater pumps. Residents pointed out that the clear-cut area east of Independence had re-vegetated on its own and was home to wildlife before the bulldozers rolled in.

Crews rapidly cleared the native vegetation that had grown up in the area to make way for an irrigated horse pasture of about 30 acres. Residents of Independence, hurt by the lack of any growth around the town due to Los Angeles land ownership, looked at the heavy equipment clear-cutting the acres and wondered what it’s all about. Those who live in the northwest part of town used to like walking from their homes toward the tree lot.

This project has lingered on the books for a long time and, according to the Inyo Water Department website, includes a new water supply well in Independence that will flood irrigate the pasture and offer some supplemental town water.

Foot-dragging doesn’t begin to describe the re-greening project which was supposed to take place back in 1991 “in the near future.” The project went through reviews by Inyo officials from 2002 to 2008. It’s unclear what happened before that. In 2009, the Inyo-Los Angeles Standing Committee revised the scope of the project to allow sprinkler irrigation and an onsite stable and corral. The Town well location was also changed, and the well has now been drilled. A lessee was chosen for the horse pasture.

According to the Inyo Water Department 2012-2013 Annual Report, the water tables in and around Independence have gone down in the past two years with increased pumping and linger below the acceptable baseline.

A couple of miles further east of the town is an area called the Independence Springfield, because it was once full of springs. Now, it is dried up and dusty. That area will not be re-greened.

About Benett Kessler

Always interested in writing, Benett was the editor of her high school paper, proceeded to the University of Chicago and then out West where she and John Heston formed Eastern Sierra News Service in Inyo County. They fed film to KNXT in Los Angeles and co-wrote and produced the first daily radio news in the Eastern Sierra. Their work ranged from a published news magazine to the first television newscast. They continued to provide videotaped news to KABC and other news outlets. After a seat on the Mammoth Times board and work as newswriter, Benett formed her own company, Sierra Broadcasters and launched an FM radio station, now KSRW and a broadcast television station, KSRW-TV33. The latest addition - Sierrawave.net. Her company motto: Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.

2 Responses to After 20 years, DWP/Inyo tear up desert to make it green

If they can admit to being the sole source responsible for the desertification in our valley, then why don’t they just pull more skeletons out of the closet, for example why doesn’t the Department give subsidies to local business that have a tough time hanging on, since that is a directly and indirectly a affect of them owning a lot of the surrounding land (less growth, less jobs and less people with money to spend), so the People in the Owens Valley that have small businesses are pretty much left with the hope we have a good snow fall and/or tourist year, or how about the Department give the amount of land that was known to be used be the Natives before the 1937 land exchange, you know like gives us the amount of land and resources (water and Land) it takes to sustain a community… Lone Pine Reservation has no Perennial stream like the rest of the reservations, Why? The only real answer I have received so far is It may have been a economic issue for the department to take away the tribes year around water supply….
But of course that is asking for way to much, how does this “re-greening” qualify for anything worth implementing? I mean if they were implementing a re-greening project that would grow Organic foods, employ some people, and give the local business a heck of a deal on organic foods, heck they may even make money off of that.. You can’t tell me DWP doesn’t have the power and ability to make that happen…Maybe they should take a few pointers from the Big Pine Tribe on their Permaculture projects and ideas..
Please correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t like walking around stewing in my own ignorance.